Thoughts Over Coffee (Zistopia AU Fan Fic)
by Iantos
Summary: This fiction is based on nicholaswilde's Zistopia AU, on Tumblr. In particular, it is set in the thoughts of Officer Antlerson before and during Part 27 ('Don't Ask, Don't Tell').
Author Note: This story is based on nicolaswildes' Zistopia AU on Tumblr. It is set just before and during part 27 ('Don't ask, don't tell'), providing some of Officer Antlerson's thoughts on that situation. May be a good idea to have that open in another tab when reading this. The Zootopia property belongs to Disney.

* * *

Lt. Hopps was a bitch.

Officer Antlerson had known that truth after the first day of her command. Sure, he hadn't known what to expect when he'd found out their new lieutenant was _really_ going to be a bunny of all things, but the idea of her shitting all over McHorn's legacy from the get go was certainly not one of them.

McHorn had been a good leader – he was one of the good ones, someone you could go to a bar with after work, and the man knew how Zootopia worked. How it had to. You looked after your district as best you could whilst you were on the clock, you filed only the necessary paperwork, and you dealt with perps as required. Sometimes, that meant a stern warning, sometimes it meant a baton to the side of the head. Sometimes it meant looking the other way to get a bigger fish.

It was how things worked. It was enough.

But Hopps...Hopps wasn't satisfied with just enough.

That woman wanted you to be fucking _Superham_.

She wanted you to not just work with other districts, but actively encroach upon their territory – time to pass off the case to their department because it's completely left your jurisdiction? Nope! "A good cop follows things through, Antlerson," and you found yourself working four hours too late following up some lead in Tundratown.

Then you went back to the station and filed every-single-damned-thing related to the case that night before you finally got to knock off because you know she'd ask about them in the morning. "And taking case notes home is fucking stupid, Antlerson."

The kudu took a hard swig of his coffee.

Had to be a rabbit thing, really. No-other cop was as anal as Hopps was, nor as smugly cold, either. Her body was probably screeching at her to make babies, or at least let someone jump her bones, and she was channelling all that frustration into solving cases and cracking whips.

Though, to be fair, she didn't work anyone harder than she worked herself.

The officer clasped his hooves together, resting his head upon them.

There'd been many times he'd come in in the morning and found her asleep at her desk, case files strewn around like a makeshift nest. She'd even tried to get permission to go to one of the outlying towns to help them on one case, and the Chief had to basically had to slap the case out of her hand so the yokels could properly take over. Jesus Capybara. McHorn couldn't get off his fat ass to go the district over some days.

'Judy on Duty' indeed. Sometimes, as much as he'd hate to admit it, it was even admirable.

But sometimes that dedication could bite her on the ass, too. Like that latest case – serial killer pred. She'd caught the guy, yeah, but it wasn't without cost.

She'd been caught. With that fox.

Antlerson exhaled deeply.

She really should of waited for back-up instead of confronting the suspect head on. She really should of sent the fox back the moment he'd become irrelevant to the investigation, which was probably _quite_ some time before they got to that apartment.

Really, in all honesty? It was probably just bad timing. The fox had just risked his life for her so it could have been an emotional response, accidental brushing whilst tending to his wounds, anything. Muzzle-on-muzzle didn't always _mean_ anything despite what Ernest liked to insist.

But if it was what it looked like? If Lt. Hopps, first rabbit officer, was a predo..?

The kudu shut his eyes.

She was pretty much fucked, and he felt incredibly sorry for her.

He wouldn't lie - Prey species finding predators sexually attractive? It was incredibly strange and kind of disgusting. But it wasn't like he was in a better position to judge.

Antlerson cast an eye over to Officer Oryx. Pronk.

Being non-standard could cause a lot of issues for an officer. If anyone found out you were different, you either had to participate in some horrific, degrading or unethical shit for your fellow officers in hopes they'd let you off (which they very rarely did), you got ratted out to a superior who began to engineer an excuse to fire you, or you transferred to another precinct immediately before any of that gained too much ground and you never set foot in your old turf again.

If you ever found a fellow officer you liked, even if you suspected they felt the same, even if they had their eyes on you a bit too long at times, got a bit too close when drunk, made excuses just to touch your shoulder or your hand...

You left it. You had to.

Antlerson looked away from the jemsbok.

People like Judy had even less than him, though. They had no Stonewool Riots, they had no new anti-descrimination laws, they hadn't been de-classified as a mental illness – it was still the 50's for them.

In the background, he could hear the door open, and an over-excited gurgling begin – Ernest 'The Mouth', back from the bathroom, but not yet done pissing, ready to spill all to Lester, who'd apparently made the mistake of looking at the beaver. Sure, the breakroom was pretty empty at the moment, but by end of the day, the whole precinct would of heard the rumours.

Bogo would fire her the moment it reached him. Judy on Duty would be no-more, despite all the nights she'd passed out on her desk, despite all those forms she'd filled, despite all that bunny-making hormonal rage she'd forced into her work...

Her downfall wouldn't be because she was an asshole, or a bad cop. It was going to be for something like this?

He could hear the beaver's shock-value phrases in the background - "Actual nose-on-nose action!"; "She _cradled_ that fox!"

...No.

No. He wasn't going to let something like this be her kryptonite. Lt. Judy Hopps was a bitch – but she was a fucking good cop.

"Just ask Antlerson," The beaver squealed, "He saw her! Hey, Bucky - !"


End file.
